money is required as an investment in equipment or supplies, sometimes adding up to hundreds of dollars.

An example of this is a company that pays you to make aprons. You need to either have a sewing machine or purchase one. You may also be required to buy materials to make your aprons. However, after you purchase the materials and equipment and perform the work required, you are not paid. Why?

How can they get away with this? They tell you the work does not meet their “quality standards.” Unfortunately, no work ever done by anyone is “up to standard” leaving you with a loss of income and investment. If you want to sell the items you have made, you are forced to find your own customers.

CHAIN LETTERS: Ads for chain letters tell you to make copies of a certain letter and send that letter to people whose names and addresses are provided. All you are required to do is send ten dollars for a mailing list and labels. You are then shown a chart to see how you can automatically receive thousands of dollars.

In reality, the only people who ever make any money from chain letters are the ones who are at the top of the chain who, by the way, are continually changing names and post office boxes. The person who sends you the chain letter tries to pull you in by claiming to be a successful lawyer who does this on the side and who assures you that there is nothing illegal about chain letters.

ENVELOPE STUFFING: Ads for envelope stuffing have been around for years in various formats. The basic claim is that for a fee, you will be provided with directions to earn money from home simply by stuffing envelopes.

After you make the initial investment, you discover there was never any real employment offer. Instead, you are told how to place ads in newspapers, magazines, online classifieds, etc. The only way for you to earn money is if people respond to your ads.

MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING: Ads for MLM programs tell you how you can earn more money than you have ever had in your life. By joining their program it will be possible for you to let others earn money for you while you enjoy your prosperous lifestyle!

Multi-level marketing is a business based on direct sales. It is a solid, well-established, legal form of business that has provided profit for many people who have successfully sold products for reputable companies.

However, many illegal pyramid schemes can resemble these legitimate MLM programs. The difference is that instead of selling a product, your primary goal is to recruit others into the program. At some point, everything collapses because the market becomes saturated and only a few people at the top have made money.

MEDICAL BILLING: Ads for medical billing are in newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet. The sales pitch says there is a crisis in the health care industry due to the massive task of processing paper claims. Since only a small fraction of the claims are fulfilled electronically, the opportunities in this area are huge.

Supposedly, doctors want to contract out their billing services to save money. This means you should be able to earn a sizable income working from home providing services like billing and accounts receivable. No experience is required and you will be provided with clients. Unfortunately, the reality is that you have to do the selling yourself.

Very few people who invest in a medical billing business are able to find clients and generate an income, let alone recover their investments. The competition in this market is brutal and primarily centers on a few large companies.

Before making any investments in any companies, ask questions, specifically regarding investment amounts and the requirements for running the business. Insist upon receiving contact information for references. Contact those references and speak to them, preferably in person.

If you invest in any work at home opportunity and find that it is not legitimate, contact the company and ask for a refund. If they will not honor your request, find out the physical address and contact information of the company. You can then make a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or your local Attorney General’s office. You can also find out if any other complaints have been received for that company.

It can be very beneficial for you to spend some time researching work at home opportunities. There are many resources available specifically designed to answer your questions regarding online employment.

There are also resources that list legitimate companies that hire people to work from home. A very good source is to search for large company and corporate websites (IBM, Penney’s, Disney, etc.). Whatever store, company or corporation you can think of, they will probably have a website. If they have a website, there will be a link for jobs.

You can also search general employment sites (jobs.com, monster.com, careerbuilder.com, etc.). There are scores of websites for general job searches and there are always some home-based jobs listed.

Many legitimate home-based opportunities are available, but you must spend some time and effort locating them. If you are unsure about an opportunity, ask questions. You will not know if something is a possibility for you unless you get answers to your questions. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, IT PROBABLY IS.
Chris Chenoweth, author of the DO-IT-YOURSELF HOME, HEALTH & MONEY GUIDE, writes articles pertaining to diet, exercise, health, and business.

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